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How to Watch Movies in the Wild

Sometimes it’s nice to come back to your small travel trailer after a long day of hiking and watch a good movie.  After all, you can probably stay up as late as you want and sleep in the next morning!  Without the usual pressures of the outside world, being in the wilderness affords a nice opportunity to really enjoy some quality entertainment!

The main piece of equipment you will need to enjoy a good movie in your small travel trailer is a television (LCD TV) that is powered by 12 volts.  Being powered by 12 Volts allows you to use the TV off grid (e.g. no hookups).  This type of TV can be plugged directly into a 12V socket and powered by the travel trailer’s 12V battery or an auxiliary battery power bank, which is desirable when you have no hookups in the wild.  If your small travel trailer has 110V outlets, they are unlikely to work without hookups because most small trailers don’t have inverters (allows your 12V battery to power 110 volt outlets).  Note:  12 volt TVs designed for travel trailers often also come with a 12V power supply which allow the TV to be plugged into a 110V outlet (which may be useful if there is no 12V socket option in the small travel trailer so the TV can be used at least when the trailer is hooked up to city power or if the trailer has an inverter with 110 volt outlets).  It’s important to note though, that the 12V TV will be more efficient (use less power) off grid when plugged directly into a 12V socket than using an inverter (110V outlet powered by 12V battery) since there are losses associated with “inverting” DC to AC current (which can be significant).

It is recommended to get a TV designed specifically for an RV because (along with being 12V) they are built to withstand vibration from the road and handle larger variations in temperature and humidity, unlike home electronics.  Additionally, they may be more energy efficient than non RV models which is important if you are camping without hookups and trying to conserve power.

One of the few manufacturers of 12 volt TVs for travel trailers is Jensen.  The model that came with our 13’ Scamp travel trailer is a Jensen 19” with a built-in DVD player.  The TV is mounted in the corner of our Scamp so it can be watched while sitting at the dinette or from the bed (when the dinette is converted to the bed).  The DVD player is handy if you have a collection of DVDs because you can play DVDs anywhere without the need for over the air TV signals, a cable/satellite connection, or a data connection (e.g. wifi or mobile data hotspot).  I recommend using an adhesive like LocTite Threadlocker to secure the mount’s bolts threads if you have a TV mounted in your small travel trailer.  Our factory installed TV disconnected from its mount (brand new Scamp) on one of our first trips and fell to the floor!  When we arrived at our destination I found the TV on the floor with a broken soldered joint at the cable connection.  Fortunately, the TV manufacturer (Jensen / ASA Electronics) was super nice and fixed the TV at no cost!  After that experience, I used LocTite on all the bolts to secure the TV and the TV mount has stayed tight since.

If you don’t have room for a TV or don’t want the expense, you can also watch TV and movies on your mobile phone, tablet, or laptop albeit with a smaller screen size.

If you are city camping, like the times we spent on my cousin Jon’s driveway in Santa Barbara, or when we parked our Scamp travel trailer out on the street in front of my sister’s house in Oakland, you likely will have access to electrical power, wifi and over the air HD digital signals.  If your small travel trailer is connected via an extension cord to city power, then there is no concern about how to power your TV.  Once your family member or friend gives you their wifi code (assuming you are close enough to the house to receive the signal), you will have full access to streaming media (which includes TV).  You will need a digital streaming media player attached to your TV — like a Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, or AirTV.  We have subscriptions to Sling TV, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.  Sling TV (internet TV service owned by Dish Network) has an incredible variety of television channels and offers additional channel packages (like News, Lifestyle).  We have the Sling TV Blue package along with News and Lifestyle packages which has most major news channels, CNBC, and all the Hallmark Channels.  Sling TV also provides a free 10 hour cloud based DVR, so you can record shows and watch them wherever you are (as long as you have an internet connection).  So, as long as we have a decent wifi connection in the Scamp, we get a vast array of TV channels through Sling TV.  Netflix and Amazon Prime also provide a huge library of movies and TV shows.   In addition to Internet TV, we also receive crystal clear over the air TV when in most cities via our HD antenna system.  We added the TV package when we ordered our Scamp which includes an HD Antenna on the roof, an electronic attenuator inside the Scamp for rotating the HD antenna for optimal HD reception, and cabling inside the Scamp with a cable port outside for use when staying at an RV park that offers cable TV.  Over the air HD TV is especially good when one wants to watch local channels (like the News or Weather) or when no other forms of TV are possible (e.g. no Internet, no DVDs, no phone).

When staying in campgrounds at State and National Parks, there usually is no wifi or over the air HD TV reception.  If the campground has electrical hookups, then no consideration needs to be made regarding powering the TV.  However, if the campground has no hookups, it’s best either to watch shows on a small device (e.g. mobile phone, ipad, or laptop) or use a large external battery power bank (we use the Jackery 500) which can independently power the TV for hours without running down your travel trailer battery.  It is extremely important to reserve all the trailer’s battery power for essential tasks (e.g. running a fan, lights, and water pumps) when boondocking (no hookups).  A 100W solar panel is a great option to help recharge your small travel trailer batteries daily when camping without hookups.  We’ve found our solar panel can maintain our Scamp’s battery at 12.5V (a good place) for days on end as long as the Sun shines.  Another option is to use a generator for power (although State and National Parks generally have rules regarding if and when you can use one).  For most small travel trailers, a solar panel is enough.

Now that you have your TV / personal viewing device, power outlet, and power source all figured out, you can decide on what you want to watch and how you are going to watch it (which will likely vary depending on the campsite location and available utilities).  The three main ways to watch movies in the wild are through:   DVDs, downloading movies onto your personal viewing device, and satellite TV (requires satellite dish and subscription).  You can try scanning the HD channels for over the air TV, but, so far, we’ve found no signals in all the remote areas where we’ve stayed.  If you have a DVD player built into your TV, then just stick the DVD into the TV and away you go!  Before every trip, we try to download a bunch of movies from Netflix and/or Amazon Prime.  The downloaded movies can be played both on our phone and on our TV (through our phone using a special cable) even if we have no internet connection.  If buying an HDMI cable that displays your phone’s movies onto the TV, you need to make sure you purchase a cable that is meant for your model phone.  We purchased this cable for our Samsung Galaxy S8 phone which plugs into the phone and the TV’s HDMI port and displays whatever is playing on the phone.  Update:  my Samsung Galaxy S8 needed to be replaced and few phones (including my new phone) output HDMI.  So, I purchased a small inexpensive laptop with HDMI output to play movies into our TV.  To download movies and shows from Netflix: download the Netflix App from the Google Play store or Apple App Store, open the Netflix App on your phone and sign in, select a movie or series, and click on Download.  When you want to watch at the campground, select the Downloads menu item and find your movie / show and play (you will not need an Internet connection to watch the show).  The process is very similar with Amazon Prime.  Lastly, satellite TV may be an option to consider.  Our friends Hugh and Cheryl have satellite TV (DirectTV) with a satellite TV antenna on the roof of their very large motorhome.  This is also possible for a small travel trailer if you don’t mind the expense for equipment and monthly subscription and can setup and store the satellite receiver and antenna.

In the not so distant future, StarLink (constructed by SpaceX) will provide high speed broadband satellite internet service covering most of the globe using a constellation of thousands of mass produced satellites in low Earth orbit.  The first 60 satellites were launched in 2019 and Space X has been launching sets of 60 on a regular basis since this time.   SpaceX plans for near global service by late 2021 or 2022.  If successful, Starlink will transform travelling with small travel trailers by enabling high speed broadband communication (e.g. ip phone, browsing, email, tv / movie streaming) at the most distant locations where one can travel.  For small travel trailer enthusiasts, this will be a communication bonanza — possibly enabling longer and more pleasant trips by allowing campers to work from the trailer, stay in touch with family, and enjoy online entertainment, including TV and movies, at once completely off the grid campgrounds.  Update:  StarLink is now available for RV use!!!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.